Rice - plant profile

Names

Rice, paddy rice, chowdhury rice (English)
Dhanya, vrihi, nivara, syali (Sanskrit)
Dhan, chaval (Hindu)
Chal (Bengal)
Dangar, choka (Gujarat)
Nellu, arisi (Tamil),

Botanical name: Oryza sativa
Family: Poaceae, the grass family, also known as the Gramineae.

The plant

The rice plant is a grass which can grow to over 1 m tall or to 5 m long in deep water.

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Rice plant

Stem - upright and composed of a series of joint-like nodes. A leaf grows from each node.

Seed (or grain) - grow on branch-like spikes which arch over. The grain is the most economically important part of the rice plant, and its endosperm is the final product consumed.

Rice should not be confused with 'wild rice' which is the North American Zizania aquatica, also in the grass family but not closely related.